Part 1: Employability skills

• Skills that are useful to a wide variety of careers and are therefore transferable between jobs.

• It is essential for employees to be able to work effectively in a modern workplace.

• Each of these areas is important, and they include:

a. Suitable qualifications

b. Experience in a similar role.

c. Knowledge of products and services

d. Experience of specific industry.

e. Effectiveness in meeting personal and team targets

f. Ability to observe and raise professional standards.

a. Suitable qualifications

• Different jobs require different types of qualifications.

• For professional careers such as accountancy, marketing and human resources, employers will often look for candidates with problem-solving and critical skills, meaning they will often need candidates with at least A levels or a BTEC National.

• To be useful to an employer, it is important that you have the correct level of qualifications and in the right subjects. Completing a BTEC National in Businesses a good start towards a wide range of professional jobs and a rewarding career.

b. Experience in a similar role

• Experience in a similar role can make the difference when an employer is choosing a new employee.

• If you can show that you have done similar work before, for another company, it should indicate that you can do it again for the new organization.

• When applying for a job, you should think carefully about any previous experience that might show how you already have some of the skills required to be successful in the new role.

• If you have already worked in that industry, you need to make this very clear in your letter of application or CV, as the prospective employer is likely to value such experience.

c. Knowledge of products and services

• Product and service knowledge is vital, especially if you intend to work in a customer service role.

• You will improve your chances of obtaining a job if you can demonstrate knowledge of the products or services that the business delivers.

d. Experience of specific industry

• If you have worked in an industry before, you should make this very clear to a prospective employer when applying for a job.

• Experience of a particular industrial sector is highly valued by employers, as employees can bring with them hints, tips and information that can be used in the new business.

• Sometimes changing employer in the same industry may mean that your new employer is able to find out more about their competitors by employing you.

e. Effectiveness in meeting personal and team targets

• Meeting targets is vital for business success.

• Individual employees must be able to meet targets too.

• If you can demonstrate that you can meet targets and deadlines, this is likely to make you stand out at interview.

• If you have worked to targets in previous jobs with targets that were either your own or given as part of a team, an employer will find you even more employable.

• Some team targets are easier to meet than others. The ease of meeting them often depends on the structure of the organization and how well employees get on with each other.

f. Ability to observe and raise professional standards

• An employee who is able to work consistently to the standards required by the organization will be valued by the employer.

• One who seeks to improve standards by suggesting and implementing better ways of doing the job is even more useful.

• Employers will want to employ people with high professional standards.

• Standards are often drawn up by organizations that represent different professions and members need to agree to follow those standards when they are working.

Part 2: Personal skills

Certain skills will be beneficial regardless of the job or career that you pursue. These transferable personal skills make a candidate attractive to a new employer.

1. Patient and hard-working

• Patience is required in many jobs, especially if you are dealing with members of the public.

• Employees who can remain patient in very difficult situations and get the job done are highly valued by employers.

• Being patient with people is not always easy, and it is undoubtedly easier with some people than with others.

2. Team worker

• Another personal skill that is very important is to work as part of a team.

• Developing teams in business also gives you more information about how to work effectively as part of a team.

3. Interpersonal skills

• Enable us to get on with other people, promote positive relationships in the workplace and so enable the job to be done better or more efficiently.

• Some people are naturally good at getting on with others and encouraging colleagues, but it is possible to learn good interpersonal skills.

• Some interpersonal skills are very simple: such as smiling. A cheerful smile can break down barriers and encourage someone to listen and talk to you, so remembering to smile is a good start to improving your interpersonal skills.

4. Co-operation

• Line managers expect employees to co-operate with their ideas and wishes.

• As an employee, you should work co-operatively with other colleagues wherever possible.

• This also means that if you are asked to do something at work, you get on with doing it in a positive and constructive way rather than moaning about it to other people.

5. Negotiation

• The art of negotiation is in finding common ground that both parties can agree upon -making it a 'win-win' situation.

• Negotiation is the process of seeking agreement and can therefore be useful for resolving conflicts between members of staff, agreeing personal or departmental targets, agreeing budget allocations and during interviews, especially for new staff members.

• Conflict can be very destructive in a work environment, so taking steps to avoid it for positively to resolve conflict) is a useful skill. You can do this by being respectful to others, respecting differences in other people, thinking carefully before you speak.

6. Interviewing skills

• Being able to interview customers or clients effectively to encourage sales or improve customer relationships will be useful to many organizations.

• It will be an asset to identify the best candidates effectively when interviewing potential new employees or to deal with appraisal situations for current members of staff.